Blackbirds
by KittyHarvey
Summary: During Belarus's time living with him America tries to cheer her up by taking her to Las Vegas, Nevada. However when the car breaks down on the side of the road they are left in the middle of a highway in the desert sun waiting for someone to drive by to help them out. After some difficulty trying to get to know her better they actually start to get along, rather well it seems.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1.

I was so glad my eyes could easily adjust to the sun. The way it shone off the hood of the car could blind someone if you weren't used to it. Thank goodness I was a fan of the heat, but then again even I have my limits. Driving through the desert wasn't a very smart idea in August but I had a motive so it wasn't _that_ stupid, right?

See when the Soviet Union fell Russia's little sister Belarus came to live with me for awhile. She wasn't the easiest person to get along with, but I truly didn't mind her after awhile. We did have our arguments though, and I quickly found out that she was as stubborn as I was.

She didn't seem to like my house very much unfortunately and to help cheer her up I decided to take her somewhere amazing for her birthday. She made sure she told me that it wasn't going to work but to my surprise it actually did. See Belarus isn't very easy to figure out but I was managing to do it. I think that actually surprised her as well. She loved the occult so I showed her the Winchester Mystery house in California. An amazing feet to manage to make her smile, right? It was a tiny one but still, I saw it!

Belarus even said she wanted to go back with her brother one day.

In the summer heat I decided to head to Las Vegas, Nevada before heading home again. Why not? It is an amazing place, I love going there when I can even though I am technically too young to gamble.

I was in an awesome mood, I truly was. Speeding through Highway 15 in a royal blue 1966 Chevy Corvette Convertible was pure ecstasy to me. The warm wind in my hair, the sun was out, and the Rolling Stones were on the radio. Belarus was in the passenger seat wearing a simple black spaghetti strap dress and leaned over the door a bit watching the desert speed past us. I couldn't help but watch her blonde hair catch in the wind but only when she wasn't looking of course.

Seemingly interested she turned the radio off right when Paint it Black was over and returned her gaze to the desert. "Have you ever seen the desert before?" I asked her out of curiosity.

"…..No." She returned her gaze to me and stared me down with those dark blue eyes of hers, "Do people die out here?"

"….Well…. I guess so."

"Their bodies would be left out in that climate to be eaten by black birds… that could be us."

"Not today, we're making a quick stop in Vegas. The last place was for you, and I want to show you one of my favorite places to go." I quickly looked at her again always finding her bouts of silence odd. She pulled up a part of her dress and revealed a knife she had strapped to her thigh and used it to pick the lock of the glove box, "You seem a little quiet."

"…I miss my brother…"  
"I thought so… you've mentioned that quite a few times actually." There was nobody on the road for miles, it was just us which I found pretty relaxing. "All the better to try new things right? You'll see him again I'm sure, but take some time for you maybe."

"But I'm happy with brother…"

Not a moment later the car started to sputter jolting me from my relaxed state, "What the?" Black smoke bellowed from under the hood and we suddenly slowed down rather quickly. In my shock I nearly didn't watch where I was going and almost drove into the ditch but pulled over on the side of the road instead. "There goes the damage deposit." I muttered annoyed and got out to see what the problem was.

"Looks like we're going to be eaten by black birds after all."

"We'll be ok, it just over heated I think." Not having much else to use I took my dress shirt off and used it to fan the smoke the moment I popped the hood. After some time pondering I didn't like what I saw. The car was fucked… perfect and we're on the side of the highway in the middle of the desert without a person in sight and here we are needing jumper cables. I left the hood up to cool down the engine and returned to the driver's seat when I found Belarus lightly licking some blood off of her finger. "Whoa, are you ok?"

She must have cut her finger when I pulled over on to the rocky side road, "I'm fine… you have blood to bleed… what seems to be the problem?"

"The car is messed up; we need some jumper cables to get going again so… we need to wave someone down who has a set."

"But there is nobody in your desert yet, America." Keeping calm she looked at me again like she was staring right through me and licked another drop of blood from her finger.

"Exactly, so I think we're going to be here for awhile."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2.

Standing on the side of the road for awhile Belarus looked down the seemingly endless empty highway trying to see anyone coming but no one ever did. Walking back in a huff I opened my eyes and saw her standing by the driver's door staring at me oddly, "Why are you shirtless?"

"….Because it's 103 out and our car doesn't have a roof on it?"

Instead of going around she crawled over me to get to her seat again and plopped down looking away, "I didn't even want to be here, I wanted to go home."

"You know… you have really got to stop saying that. I know you do, I got it the first time."

"You are a bad big brother." She narrowed her eyes at me and I did the same.

"Maybe it's a good thing; I don't know how Russia puts up with you." Not replying she crossed her arms and sighed staring ahead at the hood of the car that was still propped up. In this situation I was right, I knew I was, but why did I suddenly feel so guilty when I upset her? It was strange but I found myself really starting to like her. I mean look at her, she's a total knock out… I guess I was just trying to get her to admit the same thing. I saw the way she looks at me; I'm not a total idiot. "Look I'm sorry, I didn't mean that."

"The heat is making you quite cruel." She muttered and sighed a little.

Come to think of it she was right; the heat was getting to us both. I looked around for an idea to get some shade and suddenly noticed the time. "You know its 5 O'clock the sun is going to go down very soon. Once night hits it'll be much more manageable."

"It's ruining my new dress…."

"Hey that dress is amazing on you, trust me." I leaned back in the seat again and closed my eyes with my arm over them. "Now that I think about it I haven't seen you wear the other one you always wear, the purple one with the lace?"

"….Brother gave me that, but I'm trying to stay away from him. Nothing good came from my advances."

I didn't really know what to say to that. Honestly it was her choice and a part of me wanted to see her back with her brother again but…. well was it wrong that I was actually enjoying our moment today? Like I said we have had our arguments but I think my little stunt showing her the Winchester House actually made her see me in a different light. Maybe she was actually starting to like me back.

Sometime later she spoke up as we lay there trying our best to ignore the horrendous heat and save energy, "You know I read your fortune last night."

I opened my eyes again and looked at her curious, "Pardon?"

"I read your fortune, and it said you were going to have financial troubles again." Leaning back in her seat she lowered the straps and pulled her dress up mid thigh as she boiled under the hot sun.

"What? No way…. Did you happen to read your future?"

"I did… and it said I would reunite with brother…."

"…Doesn't that make you happy?" I asked sitting up a little

"….I don't know anymore." Hearing her say that actually worried me a little. She had gone through so much, everyone deserved to her happy no matter what their preferences were. Belarus wasn't a bad person at all. She was strong, tough, stand offish, and liked to stay in control, but what I knew her best for was she always knew what she wanted.

"You don't like to be alone do you?"

She opened her eyes and sat upright staring me down like I insulted her, "I am not weak!"

"No no, I didn't mean it as an insult! It's a personal preference. I don't really like to be alone either; I like the company of other people." I could tell she at least thought about what I said and calmed down a little, "That may be the future but isn't the future what you make it? I mean, isn't it really your choice? Besides you still have me." I smiled at her warmly not really sure what her reaction would be.

The sun was starting to set leaving the sky a really neat reddish pink color with orange along the horizon. As the heat went down as well we both ended up laying on the hood of the car looking up at the sky with still nobody in sight for miles, and eventually fell asleep there growing tired of waiting.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3.

In the middle of the night I felt something poke at my leg but I shook it off. Muttering something half awake I finally opened my eyes heavily annoyed when I saw a giant vulture sitting on the front of the car making angry noises at me. "Wha!" I screamed and rolled off the side and fell onto the pavement in total shock. Grabbing my handgun I liked to keep for safety I peeked over the side and aimed it directly at the birds head, "Stay away from her, stink bastard!" I growled and turned the safety off.

Belarus slowly woke up and saw it while half awake herself.

"Psst, get down…" I whispered but she sat up deeply interested instead.

"Hello there, sweet one." Actually charming the bird instead she got close to it without an ounce of fear and even tickled the bird's neck playfully, "Such a beautiful creature, are you hungry?" Now perfectly calm the vulture lowered its head a little and made a slight cawing noise almost happy, "There are some lovely bodies out in the desert to munch on. Go and tell your friends!" With that the bird flew off into the sandy field leaving me completely dumbfounded and still aiming my gun where it used to be sitting.

Belarus remained seated and looked at me strangely, "Your first instinct was to protect me?"

I put my gun away and stood back up scratching the back of my head, "Well yeah, those things can be mean bastards."

"Black birds are just misunderstood." She looked towards the desert and smiled a tiny bit, the same smile I saw at the Winchester House. Crawling back onto the hood I sat next to her and smiled myself. I think I finally managed to see past her shell, although I'm sure it was because she simply let me. I think a part of me was actually starting to love her. Her blonde hair caught the cool breeze and she sighed a little having the smile fade once again. A moment of silence later she looked at me with eyes less harsh than usual, "Don't talk." She whispered and leaned in to kiss me.

I was floored. I really did see past her shell, I let her continue because I was sure if I did she would probably threaten to kill me. She leaned back on the hood as I crawled on top of her, still kissing deeply and taking advantage of the suddenly romantic scenery. The stars above were so visible you could almost see everyone and the wind whistled like nothing else I have heard before. It was probably the only time I was glad that there wasn't a car coming because it was clear that neither of us were going to get much sleep that night.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4.

The sun started to rise again, leaving the sky the same orange and pink as before but only touching the horizon. Still lying on the hood of the car I watched it rise, and honestly I couldn't remember the last time I saw the sunrise, I wasn't really a morning person. Belarus lay next to me, pressing her chest against mine and slept on my shoulder for the past few hours.

It was strange to see such a tough woman look so innocent, but believe it or not she looked like a sweet girl when she was asleep. It was when she was awake when you had to watch out. I saw the wound on her finger from before and gently kissed it as she awoke. "America? ….Are we still here?"

"…yeah, I'm afraid so." I sighed, "Then again some people could be coming by now that the sun is coming back up… we should probably get dressed just in case."

"Have you ever been a big brother before?" She asked not moving yet just like I didn't want to either. She tired me right out, which honestly didn't surprise me at all.

"Now that I think about it… I really haven't had the opportunity."

She slid off the hood and casually picked her dress up from the back seat of the car before getting dressed again, "You're a good big brother."

That was something I thought I'd never hear and probably wouldn't again. I took the complement the moment I heard it, "Thank you. It's not easy you know." Getting dressed myself I watched her strap the knife back to her thigh again, I couldn't help myself really.

"I don't want to be here anymore, I want to go home." She protested and looked down the highway again, just like she did before.

Feeling completely energized and full of pep I could almost drag the car the rest of the way to Las Vegas, but even I have my limits. Besides if I did the back end would drag on the pavement and I still wanted to get what little I could out of my deposit. Just when I popped the hood again and tried to start the car for the hundredth time some headlights shone in the distance, sure enough it was someone who had jumper cables.

It was a young guy, about my age, from Austin who was on his way from Las Vegas himself and still on a high from winning big. Wanting to spread the cheer he helped us out and sped off once again in his pickup truck driving towards the desert we wanted away from.

I couldn't help but notice when Belarus got back into the car she had to delicately sit down and winced a tiny bit. This only terrified me, holy crap I was her first. That changed everything; she could easily kill me for that if she wanted to. If she regretted the choice she'd tell Russia and I'd be in another fight. But she didn't. Instead she leaned over the side of the door and watched the desert fly past us again as we eventually saw city lights on the distant horizon, "You getting hungry too?" I asked hoping to lead the conversation away from last night just in case. I wouldn't forget it, but what if she wanted to? I had a feeling I wouldn't ever know.

With a slight chuckle she saw a ravens and eagles flying over the rolling sands and began to encircle a specific spot in the desert, "Another body found by black birds… it wasn't us this time."

Chuckling nervously I spoke up trying not to sound intimidated, "How about chicken, you in the mood for chicken?"


End file.
